Verily is a women’s fashion and lifestyle website that’s “less of who you should be, more of who you are.” Our mission is to empower and inspire women to be the best versions of themselves.

We publish insightful and relatable articles that touch on all facets of young women’s lives: real fashion & beauty, relationships, healthy living, and popular culture. We are one of the leaders in championing diverse, real beauty with our no-photoshop policy and recognize our responsibility to affirm life-giving attitudes through our content. Come join in the conversation.

OUR PHOTOSHOP POLICY

Whereas other magazines photoshop to achieve the “ideal” body type and skin, we firmly believe that the unique features of women — be it crows feet, freckles, or a less-than-rock-hard body — contribute to their beauty and don’t need to be removed or changed with Photoshop. Therefore, we never alter the body or facial structure of our models, remove wrinkles or birthmarks, or change the texture of their skin. We aim to show everyone at their best, but also firmly believe that “your best” is not “a work of fiction.”

HOW IT ALL BEGAN: OUR STORY

Like so many ideas, Verily was conceived over a gathering of friends for brunch in NYC. Our conversation turned to the topic of women’s magazines–more specifically– how most of them fail to reflect our lives or our philosophies as women. We were a diverse group of women, hailing from all over the country and working in professions as varying as fashion, medicine, and philanthropy. We had gone through the learning curve of our first jobs, navigated life in a new city, and been on more first dates than many of us would like to admit. If this group of modern women were all feeling overlooked, surely others must feel the same way?

Research would indicate so. In their paper The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness, researchers Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School found that “women’s happiness has fallen both absolutely and relative to men’s in a pervasive way.” In Dove’s 2004 study, The Real Truth About Beauty, Dr. Susie Orbach notes, “When it comes to strictly physical attributes, the images of manufactured femininity are rejected as being too narrow, as inauthentic and as insufficient.” It seems that despite being more educated, influential, and affluent than ever before, the modern narrative about women – what we should look like, how we should date, how to be successful, what should make us happy – can ring hollow.

So Verily is starting a new conversation – one for those who want a fresh take on life; an honest message that relates to their experiences which is uplifting, affirming, and true. Verily began with Kara and Janet meeting over coffee in their East Village apartment, but quickly grew. We have been so fortunate to work with dozens of talented people, from writers to photographers and stylists, to all the amazing women who have shared their perspectives with us. We look forward to growing with all of you and look forward to engaging in conversation on what it means to be authentic women in the 21st century.

ABOUT NATIVE ADS

Verily is a for-profit venture, but we don't charge our readers to view the content on our website. So to keep the lights on here, we run advertisements: mostly the display ads you see in our sidebars, and from time to time we work with brands and non-profits to create editorial content that is relevant to our readers and fits in with the advertising company's goals. We strive to work with brands that fit in with our overall vision of being the best version of ourselves, and these brands input is limited to the content that we produce with them, so it won't affect the other articles we produce. We will always be up front with readers when we work with a brand to publish content, but since our editors produce the articles, it's still stuff we love and stand behind recommending. So please support the organizations that are supporting our work!